blue, white, yellow and grey livery was adopted. The first locomotive to be fully overhauled by was S300 which begun trials on 23 January 1995, entering regular service two weeks later. The railway depot at Ballarat East was leased by the company as its heavy maintenance base, with transfer runs being made via the Geelong to Ballarat line. Specially modified R class steam locomotives were also used to operate a Saturday return service, becoming the fastest regular steam hauled passenger service in the world. R711 entered service on regular trains on 21 November 1998 and was fitted with multiple unit control equipment for diesel electric locomotives. It was followed by R766 in 2001. As well as operating regular Warrnambool passenger services, West Coast Railway also ran charter services and operated special excursion trains to various destinations within Victoria, often in conjunction with The South Western Railway Society. The company assisted with the restoration of a number of steam locomotives, with R711 and Y112 made operational, and work being carried out on J536, D3 638, D3 641, and A2 986. The company also took advantage of Victoria's newly privatised rail freight market by hiring its T class locomotives and occasionally its mainline fleet of B class and S class, to freight operators. Demise West Coast Railway encountered a series of operational difficulties during 2003/04 which adversely affected its business. The death of one of the company's founding principals, Gary McDonald, on 25 April 2003 removed the guiding light and spirit of the company. The closure of the Warrnambool line between Melbourne and Geelong for five weeks in January and February 2004, to allow its rebuilding as part of the 160 km/h (100 mph) Regional Fast Rail project, meant that the company had to replace rail services with road coaches during the period of the works, with a resulting drop in passenger numbers. In May 2004 (two months after rail services had resumed), the Victorian Department of Infrastructure issued an alert on stress cracks on the underframes of the B class and S class locomotives, including the units owned by West Coast Railway. Once again the company was forced to replace two of its three daily-return rail services with road coaches. There had also been a change in government transport policy following the election of the Bracks State Government. In light of the failure of privatisation of V/Line Passenger, then Opposition transport